In a season that’s been filled with painful finishes, Penn delivered a moment of unabashed joy at the Palestra on Friday night against Dartmouth.
The Quakers used a 15-0 run in the second half to power past the Big Green, 88-75. It didn’t matter one bit to Penn (7-16, 3-7 Ivy) that Dartmouth (12-11, 6-4) entered the game in second place in the Ivy League or already had a win in hand over the Quakers. Penn delivered one of its most aesthetically pleasing performances of the season.
That aforementioned 15-0 run shattered what was a 53-53 game with just inside 14 minutes to play. Sophomore Sam Brown — the game’s biggest story — scored what proved to be the game-winning basket when he drained a mid-range jumper in the middle of the lane over the Big Green’s Ryan Cornish, then added a layup and an assist.
Senior George Smith drained the dagger with an open three from the left wing.
It’s all happy Quakeaways, starting with how …
Brown looks like he can be an alpha option next season.
Assuming junior wing Ethan Roberts leaves in the transfer portal, Brown is going to be Penn’s primary scorer next season.
On Friday night, Brown flirted with a triple-double. He dropped 15 points and added seven rebounds and doubled his prior career high with 10 assists.
Not to go too far into a cross-sport analogy, but Brown delivered some passes on Friday with a level of velocity that would make John Elway proud. (Elway was notorious for throwing footballs so hard that the point of the ball would leave a mark on his receivers’ fingers known as the “Elway cross.”)
Brown also delivered the highlight of the night when he dropped a one-handed hammer dunk over Dartmouth big man Brandon Mitchell-Day midway through the first half. Coach Steve Donahue talked up Brown’s athleticism before the season; Friday was the best example of how far the guard has come yet.
Michael Zanoni was sorely missed.
After missing eight straight Ivy contests with an illness, Zanoni returned with a bang on Friday. The junior drained three triples on five attempts and finished with a team-high KenPom offensive rating of 175 points per 100 possessions.
Zanoni was starting to come into his own as a floor-stretcher before he got sidelined. It was heartening to see him pick up right where he left off.
The Mercer transfer’s best sequence came on consecutive possessions in the second half, when he spotted up from the right wing for three in the exact same spot to receive bullet passes from Brown.
Zanoni couldn’t hit the first shot, but Roberts corralled the offensive rebound and drained two free throws. Given a second opportunity, Zanoni didn’t miss. The three gave Penn a 51-50 lead.
The offense looked the way it was supposed to have all season.
It might not be in time for Penn to rally and make a run to Ivy Madness, but the Quakers played a crisp offensive game on Friday night.
Donahue has taken heavy criticism, but his offensive game plan was arguably the best he’s crafted this year.
The Quakers spread the floor extremely well, which gave plenty of space for senior big man Nick Spinoso to make open rolls to the basket. Spinoso tied a career-high 23 points on hyper-efficient 9-for-11 shooting from the floor.
Penn also finished with a teamwide two-to-one assist-to-turnover ratio, finishing with 20 helpers and 10 takeaways.